Caught in The Act with the mystery men of dance music
Interview by Dan Prince
Mysterious producers of deep house, tech and electronica…welcome to DMCWORLD – where in the world are you today?
“Hey Dan…today we are in the studio as ever, somewhere within the UK…putting together some new grooves before we hit Ibiza at the weekend.”
Well whoever the fuck you are, congratulations on a great summer and a superb tune in ‘The Act’. Please talk us through the sound and history of the track…Tongy and Mac are all over it…!!
“Haha brilliant. Thanks we appreciate all the support from you guys. It’s been a lil crazy, at no point did we expect the track to get so many plays from right across the spectrum of dance music. We’ve had support of Adam Beyer, Pete Tong, Annie Mac right through to Tiesto, R3hab and Oliver Heldens which is pretty unique these days…I guess the sound and inspiration of the track come from a recent trip to Berlin. We wanted to make something a lil more minimal but still have that electronic feel, so we found the sound, performed the riff and built the track around that… come together really fast!!!”
The tune has been tried and tested by some major DJs, Sasha, Guetta and Steve Angello just some of the names who have ensured dancefloor chaos with your record. Who are some of the producers that you check for to see if they have given the thumbs up when you bring out a track?
“Great question… so many to choose!!! Monte, Doctor Dru, Adana Twins & most the German Producers are a great inspiration to us. But also DJs like Pete Tong, Joris Voorn, Nic Fanciulli, Seth Troxler & Loco Dice are who we’d hope to one day maybe get a lil set time from (If they haven’t already).”
Camelphat – nice name, someone was going to pick it up sooner or later. What other names might we know you by…?
“Ha…no comment!!!”
In the past when we have interviewed producers who like to keep their identity secret it’s down to the fact that they are bringing out material not normally associated with their usual style…they don’t want to be judged or pigeon holed. Was that your idea?
“Yer pretty much the same, I think these days far too many A&R guys but also DJs listen with their eyes rather than their ears… So a lot of good music can sometimes get overlooked, especially if you have a past to another style or genre.”
A camel can drink up to 100 litres in one slurping. When was the last time you two got absolutely plastered together?
“Hmmm I can tell you when the next times gonna be…? Playa den Bossa, Ibiza – 3 days from now .”
The big 5 tunes in your box right now?
Cristoph – 101 – Defected
Charles Ramirez, Gary DF – Want It
HOSH, AndHim – Captain
Claude Vonstroke – Eye I Eye
Dusky – Love Taking Over
As you mentioned, you arrive in Ibiza at the weekend…a few weeks back Steve Angello, Paul Oakenfold and Afrojack were on on Radio 1 complaining about the island saying it is too VIP and has lost it’s mystique. Thoughts on that?
“I think it’s a global problem… not just Ibiza. VIP tables and beds are the norm now. To a point it’s understandable, club owners have to match DJ fees and the most efficient way to do this is through a VIP option. It’s when that option takes over the dancefloor it’s a problem!!! For us personally Ibiza definitely still has it’s mystique; Zoo Project, DC10, The Space Terrace still have more than a charm and will always have the islands clubbing values at heart…long may they live x.”
In your opinion, what famous celebrity has the best camel toe?
”Rihanna, Grace Jones and Lois Griffin.”
It’s that time of year again, the annual DJ Top100. I interviewed Arthur Baker this week, he remarked…“there are too many DJs and genres for a realistic competition, it needs to split”. What are your thoughts on that – do you actually give a shit?
“As we’re probably the most unknown dance act out there right now, I’m gonna take your 2nd option and 110% not give a shit… “
A male camel has an organ called a Dulla that extrudes from it’s mouth to draw a female’s attention. Is this something you guys would have needed in the past or do you let your music do the talking?
“We’re really impressed by your camel knowledge Dan…10/10 for effort!!! Yer, we only ever use the Dulla extrusion experience during mating season… I don’t think the weekend is ready for it!!!”
Trawling the web looking at camel stuff, a site voted Paris Hilton the biggest celebrity who looks like a camel. She has just $200K a gig at Amnesia ‘DJing’ this summer. Has the world gone mad?
“Hahaha arrrgh wow we have to tweet her this fact!!! Heyyy Camel Hilton get the barrrrr...”
What is the best and worst thing about DJing with a camels head on your bonce?
“The Best Thing…you get a lot of free drink and…the Worst Thing…in the after parties we get demands to keep them on haha.”
The tune of summer 2014?
“Ten Walls – Walking With Elephants – production is off the scale!!!”
What is on a Camelphat rider at gigs these days?
“Pretty basic really, Jack Daniels, Steve Aoki’s rubber dingy, an air gun, few pellets, the usual…”
And finally, what is coming out next from you guys???
“Not allowed to say much, we have two tracks coming which are both with well known labels, one in particular has a lot of potential and is very different for that label. Couple of releases coming out of Hamburg with our friends at ‘Jeudi Records’ and we’ve recently finished a few remix’s with some very cool UK based acts.”
http://www.soundcloud.com/camelphat
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CamelPhat/101058219951155
